


a different life

by ackermanx



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Natsume Yuujinchou AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 15:43:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15099905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ackermanx/pseuds/ackermanx
Summary: what could a solitary soul and a powerful leader ever need in life?each other's companionship.





	a different life

**Author's Note:**

> shoutout to bust for landing me in this hell. no really thank you they're gay and good
> 
> please listen to "if you were mine" by ocean park standoff first of all i love them second of all i swear its a fitting siesix song
> 
> (drags hands down face quietly) them

It's hard being alone and an exorcist at the same time.

It's also a good thing that Seox is used to hardships, because now he's infamous throughout his district.  _The last hope of the Karm clan_ , he's called in whispered rumors.  _The child prodigy. The best exorcist of our time._

He doesn't care for such titles. Most of the time. Seox doesn't feel particularly special in any way, but he does admit that rumors and exaggerations are efficient ways to scare an enemy, be they human or not.

Unfortunately, being labeled a genius has made it nearly impossible for Seox to find companionship that doesn't have some sort of ultierior motive. So it's well within his rights to be suspicious of the man who was currently standing in Seox's kitchen, cooking dinner as if he hadn't  _broken into someones house_ and wasn't currently  _breaking some sort of law_.

"Who are you," Seox grits out, fingers twitching with the absence of a weapon.

"No one important," the man tosses out airily. "Hey, you aren't allergic to seafood, are you? I brought some of my own stuff. Thought I might as well make something good while I'm at it."

" _How_ \- "

"Oh, it wasn't hard to find out where you live. All I had to do was ask the right people the right questions."

He looks at Seox very pointedly, and flips an egg while he's at it.

The few times that Seox had allowed himself to fantasize about having someone to come home to, this was  _not_ what he had in mind. He's too indignant to even come out with a proper response to Blonde Stranger's statement - instead, Seox spins on one heel and marches straight back out of the house.

He nearly trips over two oddly-colored cats curled up on his doorstep. One is purple, one is pink, and Seox doesn't even stop to consider possible supernatural origins before picking both of them up and depositing them on the sidewalk.

"And stay there," he grunts, before stalking down the street in search of Tweyen.

 

* * *

 

 

 _Bad Hair Man isn't the only one who can ask around,_ Seox thinks with grim satisfaction.

Bad Hair Man had a name. It was Seofon; his name was Seofon, and he wasn't just "no one important." He was the leader of another, more powerful exorcist clan; the two cats that Seox had picked up were actually Seofon's shiki; his favorite thing to do in the evenings was to take a walk in a yokai-infested park halfway between his and Seox's homes.

"'Infested' is a strong word," Seofon grimaces, but there's a smile on his face anyway. "It's more like a rest stop, for those who have to travel long distances. Anyways, I'm impressed! What are you doing here, though?"

 _What am I doing here? Am I trying to prove my worth?_ "What were you doing at my house last week?"

Laughing, Seofon slaps Seox on the back. "Sharp, I like that. But no, no tricks, I just want to get to know you."

"If you were trying to sound not shady, you're failing miserably."

"Point taken! But think about it - no strings attached, you get a new friend in the process, might just give your reputation a boost."

"I don't want to just be known as 'Seofon's friend.'"

But a distant corner of Seox's brain nags at him. There simply wasn't any good reason for Seox to still be engaging Seofon in conversation like this. He should've walked away after he had proven his point and gone about his day, but here he was. Indulging Seofon.

There was something about this man that intrigued Seox, and it wans't just his terribly cut, terribly dyed hair

"...I'll need a few days to think," Seox finds himself saying, before stuffing both hands into the pockets of his jeans and starting to walk away. "And do  _not_ make any more unsolicited dinners. Next time, I'll have my weapons with me."

"You wouldn't stab me!" Seofon calls after Seox's retreating figure.

Seox doesn't quite know how he feels about that overconfident tone.

 

* * *

 

 

"I think you should do it! I mean, you could definitely use some friends."

"I have  _friends_ ," Seox protests, but his words fall upon deaf ears and an extremely judgemental Tweyen.

"I don't count," Tweyen retorts. And even though her face is completely obscured by the mask that she wears, Seox can clearly imagine Tweyen's eyebrows climbing all the way up to her hairline.

"Can I not be friends with my own shiki?"

Tweyen's eyebrows climb a little higher (at least, Seox thinks that they do), and she drives the final nail into his coffin.

"Djeeta and Lyria don't count, either. I'm talking about human beings around the same age as you, and you know it."

Just in the last few minutes, Seox felt like his pride had been put through a blender and then stabbed with a knife.

" _Alright_ ," he grumbles. "You don't have to rub it in, I'll go and get in touch. Not tomorrow. That looks too desperate. Next week."

Tweyen sighs, but there's a note of fondness in her movements as she sits lightly on an arm of the couch where Seox is located. "Good. I'm glad. You do know that I worry about you, right? I don't mean to be overbearing, but I do hate seeing you alone like this."

"You're not my mom," Seox says out loud.  _I know, and thanks for worrying_ , he says through his body language, slumped down even farther on the couch and looking as resigned to his fate as one could possibly be.

"Well," Tweyen continues gently, tilting her head in an amused sort of way, "did this Seofon leave you any method of contacting him?"

"I...dunno. We already have enough information on each other that we could just show up at each other's houses."

But Seox takes a look around the room anyway, because to tell the truth, he hadn't even considered that possibility. There's no hint of anything on the coach, on the small coffee table in front of them, or anywhere within reach. A small flicker, though - Seox swears he can see a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye, so he swivels his head to stare past the mess of a living room that he has and zeros in on a flapping piece of paper near the doorway.

It's one of those papers that he always uses for exorcisms; Seox recognizes it now as he pulls the flailing human-shaped thing out of his hoodie's pocket, while Tweyen watches on with interest. He straightens the paper, and it becomes  _very_ clear that there's nothing supernatural surrounding this paper, other than maybe Seofon's handwriting.

 _Think about it_ , it reads.  _Release this to come back to me if yes. Burn if no._

Seox releases the paper as instructed, watching it flit around the room and disappear out of an open window.

"Well," he says. "I guess that's that."

 

* * *

 

 

Seofon holds the slip of paper between two fingers and grins.

Feower makes a nasty noise in the back of his throat from his spot on the ground. "You're kidding me. You couldn't have used email? Did you have to be this dramatic?"

Tien narrows her eyes at him from across the room.  _Stop talking before you say something offensive_ , she silently wills him.

"You're  _weird_ ," Feower continues, ignoring his sister. "What are you even going to say to him. 'Hey, so if you haven't figured it out already, I've been watching you from the shadows, and I think I might have a crush on you?'"

Seofon, for his part, only sounds mildly offended when he replies "I do  _not_ sound like that."

"Uh. Yeah. Sure."

"I think," Tien cuts in, silencing both men in the room with a glare. "I think we need rules. This...won't interfere with work, will it."

"Not like your other shitty attempts at dating - ow! Was that necessary?"

"Yes."

Tien dusts off her clothing, leaving Feower to massage his own head and grumble something about sibling betrayal.

Focusing more on the paper in his hands than anything else, Seofon takes his time answering Tien's previous question. He leaves his post by the window, weaving past the dining table and all its surrounding furniture to stop in front of an overcrowded dresser right next to Tien. It's full of small souvenirs, both magical and non-magical, that Seofon's collected throughout the years; now, he plucks a small pin from the surface clutter - and carefully sticks his request to Seox on the wall.

Finally, Seofon opens his mouth. "I guess I'll need to earn his trust first. The rest can be figured out later. How's that for a plan?"

"How's that for a - I am going. For a walk." Feower declares loudly, two eyebrows smushed together into one irritated line, then  _poofs_ into his cat form and strolls out the door.

Seofon and Tien watch him go.

Tien sighs.

"He's worried. It's...easy to get hurt, especially since you and Seox are both exorcists. I'm sure I don't need to tell you, but...be careful."

What Seofon doesn't say is how desperate he's getting for more companionship that doesn't care about his power, and how he's hoping that Seox might feel the same.

What he does say is "okay."

 

* * *

 

 

In retrospect, Seofon thinks that his shiki should have more faith in him.

He is careful - all (most) idle conversation and possible flirting is left for when they're not actively working. Seox has even warmed up to him a little, no longer actively avoiding conversations, even cracking a deadpan joke every once in a while. They talk about their families, their shiki, their lives. Seofon discovers that Seox is good with youkai and is able to interact with them more easily than he does with humans. Seox discovers that Seofon needs someone to go clothes shopping with him because he has terrible fashion sense and will willingly wear plaid and stripes together.

They fight side-by-side flawlessly, paper and arrows flying. The Genius and The Master are combined into a terrible, deadly duo; if one believes what the locals say, they're the stuff of legends.

But when they're alone at night, lying in bed and tortured by 3AM thoughts, the same question runs through both Seox's and Seofon's heads.

_Is this what it's like to fall in love?_

 

* * *

 

 

Feower has had enough.

"I'm going out!" he yells, banging a few things to make sure that Seofon hears. He thinks that there's a muffled "okay!" in response, so he drops the stick that he had been holding.

"Tien, you there? I'm gonna need you there, too," Feower calls out in a softer voice. 

"Nice of you to remember me after you're done making everyone deaf."

Her tone is dry and extremely not amused, but Tien manifests in front of her brother anyway, with only a small grimace on her face. "What...am I here for, exactly?"

"Help," Feower says simply. He opens the front door and immediately transforms into his cat form, tilting his head at Tien to indicate that she should do it, too.

Tien locks the door behind her, then follows Feower's trail on four legs.

She knows where they're going - they've walked this path many times with Seofon over the past month - and is thoroughly unsurprised when Seox's small house comes into view. The front door is impossible to reach while in cat form, so Feower hops in through an open window with Tien joining him a few seconds later.

By the time that Tien regains her human-like form, Feower is already deep in conversation with Tweyen. "...just saying," he states loudly, "we've got to do something about them because they sure as hell won't."

"So we're going to be matchmakers. Oh, hello, Tien."

Tweyen cocks her head to one side, seemingly turning the idea over in her head. "It's not a bad idea," she says slowly. "But...does it have to happen today?"

"Yes. I mean, I don't know about you, but I can't stand another day of Seofon waxing bad poetry about his crush. He sounds like a teenager. It's absolutely disgusting."

Tien snorts. "That's...certainly one way to think about it. Tweyen. We've made sure that Seofon's schedule is clear for the night. Do...whatever you need to do. Have Seox go to the park. He knows the one."

Tweyen nods serenely. "I understand."

"It's getting dark." Tien looks out the way that she came in, watching the sky rapidly turn a darker shade of pink. "Come on, Feower. We still have things to do."

"Yeah. See you."

Feower waves (not unkindly), and scampers after Tien.

 

* * *

 

 

"And what does he have to say that he couldn't just call me about? He has my number, doesn't he?"

Seox pulls the hood of his sweater up higher, saying something that sounds like "at least it isn't freezing" underneath his breath.

For once in a very long time, Tweyen is glad for the mask that covers up her facial expressions. "They didn't actually say. Just told me to pass on a message, then left immediately. I guess this is the only way to find out."

"Fine," Seox sighs. He leans back against the uncomfortable park bench, fully planning on getting some rest while he's waiting, but of  _course_ fate has other plans for him. His wandering eyes land on a blur in the distance that quickly resolves itself into three separate figures - Seofon with his arms slung around his two shiki and laughing long and loud, Feower with a vaguely murderous expression on his face, Tien with a bemused smile on hers.

He locks eyes with Seofon. Something uncomfortable stirs in his gut.

Tweyen murmurs something about going to patrol the surroundings, but Seox doesn't even hear her. He's preoccupied with watching Seofon approach and wondering  _why on earth does he look so nervous?_

"Hey."

Seofon raises a hand by way of a greeting. Seox shifts his attention onto the hand, wondering if he's supposed to high-five it, but Seofon stuffs it back into a jacket pocket and seats himself next to Seox before he can even react.

"You know," Seox begins, with absolutely no prelude. "I have a phone. You could have called me."

"Bingo! But this is something that's better said in person, so here I am in all my glory."

Seox watches as Seofon attempt to make a grand sweep with his arm with what little space that he has, barely managing to refrain from hitting Seox in the face.

"Sorry about that," Seofon says, dropping his arm and not looking sorry in the least.

When this is over, Seox is going to have to lie down for a long time and figure out what, exactly, about Seofon makes him appealing to him.

"It's fine. Just...what did you want to say? I still need to cook dinner. And remove all the post-its you stuck on my walls last night, even though I told you I don't need the names of every single Pokemon ingrained in my memory."

That's a lie. He's not taking them down anytime soon.

Seofon laughs.

"Well, you have a lot to do, and I'm not heartless. So here, this is what I wanted to tell you."

He shifts his hand a few inches to the left. Takes Seox's left hand in his right one. Seox is suddenly hyperaware of every inch of his body and wills his face to stay  _not_ red.

Which becomes an increasingly losing battle when Seofon brings Seox's hand up to his mouth, gentler than Seox can ever remember him being, and presses a light kiss to his knuckles.

 

* * *

 

It's hard being alone and an exorcist at the same time.

It's a good thing, then, that Seox is no longer alone. He has Seofon to take care of him, and he has Seofon to take care of. They still function as a fearsome duo, earning a reputation among the local youkai - together, on equal footing. But people talk, wondering what the biggest ego this side of Japan is doing with perhaps the most reclusive exorcist the community has ever had.

"Let them talk," Seofon grins, attempting to make another grand hand gesture. It doesn't work as well this time, though, because his fingers are entwined with Seox's and he doesn't get very far before Seox starts to get pulled off-balance.

" _Stop_ that," Seox grumbles, but there's no real bite behind his words. He lets his momentum carry him in revenge, falling down in Seofon's lap and curling up in the ray of sunlight that lands there.

"Don't you have to make dinner?"

"Not today, I'm tired. Can...can you do it instead, without setting fire to the rice?"

"Hey, hey, that was one time! ...Alright, I'll do it. You sleep."

Seox hums contentedly, curling up further into Seofon's robes.

Seofon sets a hand on Seox's head, stroking his hair absentmindedly.

Neither of them moves.

**Author's Note:**

> come yell at me on twitter @axlotlols where i scream about granblue among other various things


End file.
